Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Vic’s Statehouse Notes #147 – July 1, 2013

Dear Friends,

Today, July 1st, marks the beginning of the new membership year for the Indiana Coalition for Public Education for 2013-14. We need your membership renewals to allow ICPE to continue to support public education in the Statehouse arena.

ICPE committed $24,000 to the General Assembly session to support public education and to fight voucher expansion through lobbying and sponsoring a public rally. Memberships and donations through the session came in at about $20,000. In our new membership campaign for 2013-14, we have $4,000 to make up as soon as possible to pay our bills.

Will you help us?

Overview Since 2011

ICPE was founded in January 2011 as the curtain opened on the legislative battle over the 2011 voucher bill. In addition to the education associations that were fighting for public education, ICPE became a voice open to all taxpayers and all citizens who believe a strong public school system is vital to our democracy.

After two and a half years, we have received memberships from just over 1000 advocates for public education, but we have never had more than 600 paid members in any one year. It is our goal in 2013-14 to get all 1000 to renew and to find another 1000 who support public education but have not yet joined our ranks. With over a million parents of public school students, thousands of retirees and some 40,000 current public school teachers and administrators, we think our goal is reachable, but we have enough experience to know it won’t be easy without a lot of grassroots support. We know there are many more people out there who care deeply about strong public schools and were disturbed by the low priority given to public schools in the 2013 General Assembly, and we ask your help in finding them.

Will you bring ICPE to the attention of a public school friend and invite them to join us?

Jeannie McNew has been calling members who did not renew in 2011-12 and is getting an excellent response. The conclusion is that they simply didn’t realize that they hadn’t renewed and the mailed reminder somehow didn’t get through. We have an all-volunteer staff and frequent mailings are not possible. If anyone would have the time to join Jeannie in making calls on behalf of ICPE membership, just reply to this email to volunteer for the phone call team.

What Can You Do?

If you are an advocate for public education who has supported the ICPE lobbying efforts on behalf of public education and has benefitted from reading “Vic’s Statehouse Notes”, please help us:

1) Send in your renewal or a new membership check today using the attached form to: ICPE, PO Box 7093, Fishers, Indiana 46037. The basic membership for 2013-14 is $25, up $5 from last year. Other membership levels are available at $50, $100 and $250. The form is also HERE.

2) It would help us immensely if you would mail your check today after reading this or tomorrow so that by the time our ICPE board meets on July 12th we could check our progress on paying off our bills.

3) It would also be a tremendous help if you could send a “second mile” donation of $5, $10, $20 or more in addition to your membership. Many sent extra donations this spring, and we deeply appreciate every donor and the commitment to public education that each donation represents.

4) If you prefer, go online to make a membership payment for 2013-14 on our website: icpe2011.com

5) If you have time to volunteer for the ICPE phone call team, please reply to this email.

6) Look for information coming after our July board meeting about fall membership meetings and fundraisers designed to get ICPE on solid footing for the next session of the General Assembly.

I deeply appreciate your support of public education and your support of ICPE. Thank you!

Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio:

I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998.

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